“We’re back, baby!” -Gray whale. Photo: New England Aquarium
When team of researchers flying a drone off Nantucket early in March, they spotted something they didn’t expect: a gray whale.
Now, one might not think it’s strange to see a whale in the ocean, but grays were thought to be an extinct whale species in the Atlantic Ocean for over two centuries.
“My brain was trying to process what I was seeing, because this animal was something that should not really exist in these waters,” said research technician Kate Laemmle. “We were laughing because of how wild and exciting this was — to see an animal that disappeared from the Atlantic hundreds of years ago!”
The gray whale was spotted some 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts Island. It was feeding and diving periodically, resurfacing for air occasionally.
Gray whales are generally seen in the North Pacific Ocean, and are easy to identify with their gray and white skin, dorsal humps (with pronounced ridges), and lack of dorsal fins. This particular species disappeared sometime in the 18th century, but there have been a few possible sightings in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean over the last two decades or so.
“While it is rare for a gray whale to appear in the Atlantic Ocean, scientists say it could become more common due to climate change,” wrote ABC’s Wate.com. “The Northwest Passage, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has become ice-free in the summer over the past few years, believed to be due to rising global temperatures.”
Ice usually blocks whales from making their way into other oceans, but in the last few years that ice has been getting sparser and sparser. It’s thought they haven’t been able to do it for 120 years or so.
“This sighting highlights how important each survey is. While we expect to see humpback, right, and fin whales, the ocean is a dynamic ecosystem, and you never know what you’ll find,” said Orla O’Brien, an associate research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium. “These sightings of gray whales in the Atlantic serve as a reminder of how quickly marine species respond to climate change, given the chance.”
Gray whales had a tough go when we used to hunt them commercially. Since the practice has effectively been banned, however, they’re making a bit of a come back and today the the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers them a species of “least concern.”
